Dr. Mark Landahl is a full-time Associate Professor of Emergency Management and Public Administration at Jacksonville State University and teaches with the FIU program in the summer semesters.
Immediately prior to transitioning into full-time academia, he served for more than five years as the first Emergency Manager for the City of Rockville, Maryland. Prior to this position, he served and retired as the Homeland Security Commander for the Frederick County, Maryland Sheriff’s Office. In this capacity, Dr. Landahl was responsible for all hazards emergency preparedness, intelligence, and terrorism and targeted violence prevention. During his career he also served as a task force officer on the Maryland-Delaware Joint Terrorism Task Force and Commander of a regional node of the State Fusion Center. As the Homeland Security Commander, he was the primary local law enforcement liaison to the U.S. Secret Service for the Presidential Retreat at Camp David. During his tenure he worked in planning and operations for several high-profile events including the 2014 G-8 Summit, the 2015 U.S. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit, and dozens of Presidential visits and movements.
Dr. Landahl received his BA in Political Science and Secondary Education from State University of New York College at Cortland, his master’s degree from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security and holds a graduate certificate in Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis from Michigan State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Emergency Management from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Landahl has published in several academic journals including the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Homeland Security Affairs Journal, and the Journal of Urbana Management. He also has a published co-authored book Business Continuity Planning: Increasing Workplace Resilience to Disasters and a co-edited book titled Law Enforcement in Homeland Security and Emergency Management. He previously taught homeland security and emergency management courses for 19 years in the University of Maryland system, at the University of Akron, Florida International University, and the Pennsylvania State University World Campus.
Before his law enforcement and emergency management careers, Dr. Landahl served as a certified public-school history and government teacher and worked on a Congressional staff in the U.S. House of Representatives.